


Starting today, a new routine

by nitorisource



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-26
Updated: 2014-08-26
Packaged: 2018-02-14 20:14:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2201625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nitorisource/pseuds/nitorisource
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sousuke's usual, boring routine is interrupted when the guy from behind the store window takes notice of him, offers him a flower, and ensures that every day from here on out is a little brighter.</p><p>Flower shop AU written just because <a href="http://tomakehimfree.tumblr.com/post/95777469701/quick-someone-come-up-with-a-plot">tomakehimfree's</a> comic was really cute \(//∇//)\</p>
            </blockquote>





	Starting today, a new routine

He’s gone down this street at least a thousand times, Sousuke thinks to himself, his hands in his pockets. Each day, to and from the station on the way to his job in that high rise building he hates sitting in so much, so he’s practically remembered the cracks in the sidewalk and the store hours of every shop. It’s this unavoidable tediousness to his daily routine that makes him wonder how it is he missed the flower shop halfway down the street.

Well, that’s not exactly right. He’s always noticed the flower shop - titled ‘Bloom’ with flowers in place of the o’s, which Sousuke always thought was a little sappy - but has that brown-haired worker always been there, too? Even through the glass, he can see how vibrantly those green eyes shine when they make eye contact - for a second too long, Sousuke realizes, as he tears his eyes away and huffs out in frustration. He feels like a fool for staring like that, and he quickly stalks past the storefront, hoping that guy didn’t think he was planning to buy anything.

“Ah - hold on!” The bell above the door tinkles and Sousuke hears heavy footsteps pounding down the pavement after him. He turns around and raises an eyebrow at him, the green-eyed flower shop worker with his apron untied and flapping in the wind behind him until he stops in front of him and straightens it out. The nametag, scrawled in dark-green, rushed penmanship, reads _‘Makoto.’_  

“Hm?” is the only answer Sousuke offers as he shifts his hands in his pockets, unable to meet those earnest, cheery green eyes for too long. For the strangest reason, he gets the feeling this guy carries _light_ and happiness around with him, and, as if on cue, rays of sun finally begin to break through the pervasive overcast that’s been plaguing the city for the past week, and he can swear this guy has brought with him his own angelic aura as well.

He groans internally once he registers how stupid that thought makes him feel. He doesn't believe in signs from the heavens, he tells himself, even if this guy is an actual godsend after a terrible day at work.

Makoto continues to stare wide-eyed at him, now slightly out of breath, before he straightens up and reveals what he’s holding behind his back. Oh. This guy is kind of tall. He’s broad shouldered, and Sousuke can even make out how tightly that shirt of his clings to the rise and fall of the skin and muscle underneath, even with that apron hiding most of it. Again, he can't help but fall enchanted by those eyes, down turned and relaxed beneath his golden-brown hair.

“Here,” Makoto says, probably for the _third_ time judging by the confused, but certainly amused, expression on his face as he holds his out arm farther. Sousuke was too wrapped up checking this guy out that he wasn't listening and even ignored the flower that’s suddenly appeared in Makoto’s fingers. It looks fresh cut, its vibrant pink and yellow petals lush and lightly beaded with moisture. Sousuke doesn’t know shit about flowers and finds them useless for the most part, but he thinks this one is… acceptable.

“Ah, I’m fine,” Sousuke says with apprehension, taking a step back and making a move to leave.

“No, wait, it’s - ah, it’s a promotion, just for today! Free flowers.”

Sousuke arches his brow at him, unconvinced, and Makoto clears his throat as his eyes turn bashfully to the ground.

“Just for today, a free flower for attractive, handsome strangers who look like they’re having a down day?” he coughs out, voice rising in pitch it at the end of his sentence.

Sousuke stares.

“That was… kind of _lame_ ,” he finally says in that solemn voice of his. He has to bite back from commenting, _'Was that your best try at hitting on me?,'_ even though, being real, he already feels ensnared and that kind of goofiness has his heart twisting a little more noticeably in his chest.

This time, Makoto’s eyes flit back to his and they’re filled with surprise - and a little bit of hurt. His cheeks begin to taint with color and - _wait, is this guy_ pouting _at me?_ Sousuke thinks quietly - he says, in as frustrated of a voice he muster with that naturally kind expression of his, “I’m not very good at this, I guess.”

Sousuke isn’t quite sure how to react. Then, a chuckle starts to rumble in his throat, and he removes his hand from his pocket so that he can scratch the back of his head as he lets out a louder laugh. Passersby begin to turn to stare at the businessman who seems to have lost his mind in the middle of street.

“Thank you anyway. I guess I needed that laugh today,” Sousuke eventually forces out once he’s calmed down enough. Makoto is still blushing with humiliation at his failed attempt, but when Sousuke plucks the flower still in his fingers, his face breaks out into a satisfied grin.

“It’s all in a day’s work,” he says proudly. Shyly. He's so expressive with his emotions. Easy to read, a little vulnerable even. Not at all like himself. It makes Sousuke burn with curiosity over who this person is, with enough confidence to offer flowers and compliments to strangers yet so obviously timid as he does so.

“Ah - Makoto, right?” The name rolls off his tongue in an easy, pleasant way. He thinks it over and over, trying to make sure he can match the name to the face in front of him. He’s sure he won’t be forgetting this person anytime soon.

“Yes! How did you...” Makoto’s face lights up, then he looks down and remembers he’s wearing his nametag, and he lets out his own embarrassed laugh. “Yes, and you’re...?”

“It’s Sousuke. You can call me Sousuke.”

“Then I hope your day gets better from here, Sousuke,” he says, and, with a parting smile, he turns away, tying his apron behind him as he goes, remembering that he's supposed to be working. The bell over the shop door trills once, then again as it shuts behind Makoto, before Sousuke remembers that he’s standing in the middle of the sidewalk with the flower held over his chest. He takes this chance to examine it again, its smooth petals and crooked stem and clipped leaves, before realizing he has no idea what he’s supposed to do with this.

Stick it in a vase with water?

He loathes the idea of just letting this thing die. He’s never been good with this kind of thing, which is why he doesn’t keep plants or pets or - god forbid - a child around the house. He brings it up to his nose and inhales deeply.

He accidentally gets pollen up his nose, but it still smells good, he decides, sputtering.

He soon finds out, anyway, that he’s not to come across a shortage of flowers anytime soon.

“Well, the promotion is still running, so…” Makoto says the next day, another flower pinched between his fingers.

Sousuke no longer feels the need to rush home today.

  


**Author's Note:**

> from here sousuke probably shows up to work with a flower stuck over his ear or in his front pocket and his coworkers tease him but makoto put it there so he's not going to move it


End file.
